I’m not typically in the habit of comparing toys made in 2022 to those made in 1987.

 

I will give him this much--I like that he's much taller. The bicep issue is still a deal-breaker.

Seriously, REVERSE the elbow hinge, and sandwich it between the blue half of the lower arm and the red half by reducing that block attached to the grill until it's JUST wide enough for the hinge. Then a screw/pin through from the inside of the arm, mushroom peg at the upper arm, DONE! They've definitely done mushroom swivels on smaller appendages than that upper arm. I just don't get it.

 

The arms are a damn mess, and I don't want that crap target master.
I think I'm leaning towards a pass unless someone comes up with a satisfactory fix.

 

Frankly they don't even need to do anything even that involved, they just need to sink that grill detail back a few millimeters until there's clearance for the currently-transformation-only hinge under the swivel to bend forward.

 

If there's any reason that MP collectors get hate, it would be for having an attitude like yours. Collecting isn't a competition, and you certainly don't need to call others delusional for seeing more value in their figures than you believe they have.

 

Hasbro isn't competing with a figure from the previous CENTURY! They're competing with this. (And failed)

 

As much as the prices on official Transformers are climbing at somewhat of a ridiculous rate: no, I don't think a $25 mass market 6-inch Hasbro figure is competing with a $200 only-sold-online 9-inch third party figure, especially not one that's been sold out for a good few years.

 

That was the extreme case, but no, I'm still not particularly accustomed to Transformers with that leg inversion transformation step to fill in the back gaps. The ones that do are the exception, not the rule. I never cared about the gaps for the first thirty years of this brand's existence, I don't know why I'd suddenly start caring about it in the last five.

 

Hmm… I wonder why the $25 dollar toy isn’t as good as the masterpiece styled figure worth hundreds of dollars. Hmm… this is certainly perplexing.

 

They aren't competing with a 3P figure. You're delusional. Please come out of Wonderland.

3P's market is ONLY the most hardcore of nerds like you and I. Meanwhile Legacy Pointblank is something expected to be on Target/Walmart pegs and bought by kids and collectors. Quite literally two different product for two different market segments. There's no competition. You might think there is but you're objectively, factually wrong.

That being said this is no defense. I'm unhappy with Hasbro's solution, so I won't be getting Pointblank unless a 3P does a total arm replacement or something I dunno.

 

I would say, except for one thing, that third parties could even just put out a replacement for the red block part of the arm, since it has another hinge in it below the swivel that would together make for a perfectly good swivel-hinge elbow, that is rendered non-functional for articulation due to the protruding sculpted detail on the front; the forearm is two pieces screwed together, with the red block sandwiched between the two parts to create the hinge. 3P could just make a new version of that block where the car grill sculpt detail is pushed back (and with some rounding at the bottom of the front) to allow that hinge to actually become useful....

but it looks like the red block's connection to the black actual-elbow-hinge would be harder to deal with in that regard, being a flathead pin. So..... yeah, I don't know how 3P would go about it. I know some 3P upgrade kits do involve removing and reinserting pins, but flatheads seem harder than just normal purely-cylindrical pins. I personally may end up buying the figure and just shaving off the offending percentage of the red block and rounding the edge myself, but that's a hard maybe. It would probably end up looking really scuffed doing it thay way.

 

I've changed my mind a few times about this one. The hip gappage put me off at the start, then the alt mode turned me on again, but the lack of the blue spoiler is a shame even if understandable.

I'm not going to have a downer on him for the bicep swivel, not the end of the world for me. I think i'm veering towards picking him up, after seeing him in hand, im the hope the blue spoiler will follow and Toyhax will give us a few G1 decals.

And it's a cool transformation, I think.

Hope Sureshot is on the way! His G1 transformation is mad, love to see how Hasbro handles it this time around.

 

OK and? Even if that were a $25-30 figure, the point is that Pointblank is meant to have silly hips.

 

It's weird that we're in 2022 now isn't it? We're living the future! How did we get here?

I agree with you though. As an owner of the 1987 version, i'm happy to put this one next to it to show the evolution.

Does it represent 35 years of evolution? That's another (very long) debate!

 

Oh wow, even Mark is using that transformation hinge as a more useful elbow hinge, via the quick-and-dirty method of just swiveling the whole forearm around to allow it to bend, outside-kibble-on-the-inside and backwards-fist be damned.

 

It is very strange to think about collecting for 35 years. I think it really hit me in 2005 - you probably understand why ;-)

I’m jealous that you have the original. I always wanted the futuristic Lamborghini when I was a kid. Considering it’s taken so long to get an official version, I understand the passion from fans regarding the issues with the upcoming release.

I’ll still be getting Pointblank and happily deal with the cost-cutting measures to be able to put him on my shelf.

 

Let's face it, we're all dealing with cost-cutting measures. I had to put my son on one meal a day to fund my Transformers habit. And still he complains because 'the coal is too hard to swallow, dad'.

 

I'm hoping for this, too. But, I'm still going to look into modding solutions as well.